Two Red Wings 'fantasy sleepers' and some faceoff factoids

NHL.com's Rocky Bonnano includes two Red Wings among his "fantasy sleepers" for the fantasy hockey-inclined:

September 4, NHL.com: Patrick Eaves, RW, Detroit: The 25-year-old from Calgary was once a first-round pick of Ottawa in 2003 who netted 20 goals in only 58 games in his rookie season of 2005-06. Since then, Eaves has added only 25 more goals to his ledger in 184 games. A concussion and a shoulder injury limited Eaves to only 37 games in his third season, which included a trade to Carolina. "His first two years in the League he was great and then he got injured, and he's never really reached his potential," assistant GM Jim Nill told the Detroit Free Press. "We want to get him in a structured environment. He plays hard. He scored 20 goals as a rookie. We look at him as a Dan Cleary."

2008-09, Carolina: 74 games, 6-8-14
...
Ville Leino, LW, Detroit: The 25-year-old Finn spent his first pro season in North America in 2008-09. Playing mostly with Grand Rapids of the AHL, he scored 15 goals and 46 points in 57 games. "Leino just has a knack to score," coach Mike Babcock told the Detroit Free Press. "It doesn't appear to matter who we play Leino with, he's going to score." Leino (6-0, 182) was the 2007-08 Finnish League MVP for scoring 28-49-77 in 55 games with Jokerit Helsinki. In six Finnish League seasons, he scored 69 goals and 136 assists for 205 points in 294 career games.

2008-09, Detroit: 13 games, 5-4-9

In all honesty, the coolest part of Bonnano's column is his list of the European and North American players coming over to the NHL/AHL versus a list of players heading to Europe as it's ridiculously comprehensive, and he includes a list of training camp try-outs (Manny Legace's going to try to earn a spot with the Atlanta Thrashers), too...

(as an aside, The Hockey News's Ryan Kennedy discussed the fact that Leino and Fabian Brunnstrom played in the AHL last season)

And NHL.com's statistically-oriented John Kreiser talks about the NHL's best faceoff performers. If you're looking for a faceoff specialist, you can't do much better than Kris Draper:

September 6, NHL.com: 2. Kris Draper, Red Wings, 603/1000, 60.3 percent -- When he was coaching the Red Wings, Scotty Bowman took a night to watch a minor-league game and was amazed when Kris Draper won every faceoff. Bowman promoted him. That was 1993 and Draper has been among the top NHL faceoff men since. Draper gets even better when the faceoff is in the defensive zone. He doesn't look very big, but Draper's all muscle with great core-body strength, thick forearms and strong hands and wrists.
...
9. Pavel Datsyuk, Red Wings, 636/1135, 56 percent -- What doesn't this guy do well? That the NHL's best all-round player is also good at faceoffs is no surprise. That he progressed from a mediocre faceoff man in his first two years to a member of the top 10 the past three seasons is a tribute to his dedication and the Red Wings' emphasis on winning faceoffs. Detroit led the NHL in faceoffs last season, thanks in great measure to the work of Draper and Datsyuk.